Post by sclcookie on Jun 6, 2006 1:21:44 GMT -5
DEATH-ROW DEBATE - Execution for some inmates is questioned----TOO INSANE
TO DIE?----The justice system decides whether those sentenced to die are
mentally competent.
One man keeps no personal effects in his death-row cell, save for a
mountain of salt and pepper packets.
He rarely speaks, although occasionally he bursts into random laughter.
Asked what will happen to him after his execution in Virginia, Percy
Walton has responded that he'll "get a Burger King."
The other inmate contends Texas is in a league with Satan, wanting to kill
him to stop him preaching the gospel. Scott Panetti described himself to
his jury as "the born-again April Fool," and tried to subpoena Jesus and
John F. Kennedy.
The question of who is insane enough to be spared is now before the U.S.
Supreme Court, which has just days to decide whether to take the case and
determine if Walton can be executed for slaying three Danville, Va.,
neighbors.
Panetti, who killed his estranged wifes parents in front of her, is on a
parallel track, but not as far along. 3 Fifth Circuit appeals judges
recently said he could be executed.
Death row nationwide holds hundreds with schizophrenia and mental
diseases. Arkansas executed brain-damaged Ricky Ray Rector in 1992 not
long after he put aside the dessert of his last meal to eat later.
Walton, 27, pleaded guilty in 1997 to the murders of Jessie and Elizabeth
Kendrick, a couple in their 80s, and Archie Moore, 33, all robbed and shot
in the head.
The Supreme Court ruled two decades ago that it is unconstitutional to
execute the insane and mentally retarded, but left definitions up to the
states. In their petition to the court, Waltons attorneys complained of
insufficient rules.
Walton's lawyers argued that he has schizophrenia, has mental retardation
and is incapable of understanding the concept of death, therefore making
him ineligible for execution.
Walton was 3 days from execution in 2003 when given a temporary stay to
explore his mental state. A guard told how he wouldnt leave his cell to
take a shower, complaining about a man in a white suit sitting on a gray
box in his cell. But one psychiatrist described a "mentally limited,
istreetwise predator" who misled people into thinking he was crazy.
Ultimately the court ruled that Walton understands that his fate is
punishment for murder and therefore is competent.
His lawyer, Nash Bilisoly, disagrees: "He doesn't have understanding,
comprehension or emotion."
Walton chose to die by electrocution, but couldnt say why. That unnerved
Barbara Case, who believes he was sane when he murdered her parents.
"Maybe he's just gone stark raving mad being on death row," Case said.
"But who knows? Only God knows."
Panetti, 48, argued he had been taken over by an alter ego called Sarge
Ironhorse. "Sarge boom boom," he testified about the shooting of Joe and
Amanda Alvarado in 1992.
"A delusion belief system" is not enough to spare him, according to a
federal judge.
"He knows what he did," agreed Robert Blecker, a New York Law School
professor. "He knows what the state is about to do to him, and why."
"In Texas," said Greg Wiercioch, a lawyer involved with Panetti's defense,
"if you cast a shadow on a sunny day, you're competent to be executed."
(source: Associated Press)
TO DIE?----The justice system decides whether those sentenced to die are
mentally competent.
One man keeps no personal effects in his death-row cell, save for a
mountain of salt and pepper packets.
He rarely speaks, although occasionally he bursts into random laughter.
Asked what will happen to him after his execution in Virginia, Percy
Walton has responded that he'll "get a Burger King."
The other inmate contends Texas is in a league with Satan, wanting to kill
him to stop him preaching the gospel. Scott Panetti described himself to
his jury as "the born-again April Fool," and tried to subpoena Jesus and
John F. Kennedy.
The question of who is insane enough to be spared is now before the U.S.
Supreme Court, which has just days to decide whether to take the case and
determine if Walton can be executed for slaying three Danville, Va.,
neighbors.
Panetti, who killed his estranged wifes parents in front of her, is on a
parallel track, but not as far along. 3 Fifth Circuit appeals judges
recently said he could be executed.
Death row nationwide holds hundreds with schizophrenia and mental
diseases. Arkansas executed brain-damaged Ricky Ray Rector in 1992 not
long after he put aside the dessert of his last meal to eat later.
Walton, 27, pleaded guilty in 1997 to the murders of Jessie and Elizabeth
Kendrick, a couple in their 80s, and Archie Moore, 33, all robbed and shot
in the head.
The Supreme Court ruled two decades ago that it is unconstitutional to
execute the insane and mentally retarded, but left definitions up to the
states. In their petition to the court, Waltons attorneys complained of
insufficient rules.
Walton's lawyers argued that he has schizophrenia, has mental retardation
and is incapable of understanding the concept of death, therefore making
him ineligible for execution.
Walton was 3 days from execution in 2003 when given a temporary stay to
explore his mental state. A guard told how he wouldnt leave his cell to
take a shower, complaining about a man in a white suit sitting on a gray
box in his cell. But one psychiatrist described a "mentally limited,
istreetwise predator" who misled people into thinking he was crazy.
Ultimately the court ruled that Walton understands that his fate is
punishment for murder and therefore is competent.
His lawyer, Nash Bilisoly, disagrees: "He doesn't have understanding,
comprehension or emotion."
Walton chose to die by electrocution, but couldnt say why. That unnerved
Barbara Case, who believes he was sane when he murdered her parents.
"Maybe he's just gone stark raving mad being on death row," Case said.
"But who knows? Only God knows."
Panetti, 48, argued he had been taken over by an alter ego called Sarge
Ironhorse. "Sarge boom boom," he testified about the shooting of Joe and
Amanda Alvarado in 1992.
"A delusion belief system" is not enough to spare him, according to a
federal judge.
"He knows what he did," agreed Robert Blecker, a New York Law School
professor. "He knows what the state is about to do to him, and why."
"In Texas," said Greg Wiercioch, a lawyer involved with Panetti's defense,
"if you cast a shadow on a sunny day, you're competent to be executed."
(source: Associated Press)